My car has just failed it's MoT. However the current MoT ticket doesn't run out until the end of the month. I need to use it next week as I'm supposed to be ferrying kids about.

Does the fact it's failed mean I can't drive it at all or am I OK it officially doesn't run out until the 28th?

Obviously I'm assuming that it's failed therefore it's "unroadworthy" so I shouldn't be driving it but I'm hoping there's a grey area!

Paddynabs said:

My car has just failed it's MoT. However the current MoT ticket doesn't run out until the end of the month. I need to use it next week as I'm supposed to be ferrying kids about.

Does the fact it's failed mean I can't drive it at all or am I OK it officially doesn't run out until the 28th?

Obviously I'm assuming that it's failed therefore it's "unroadworthy" so I shouldn't be driving it but I'm hoping there's a grey area!

Click to expand...

If it fails its test, it now has no MOT. You are only allowed to drive it to a place to get it fixed and then need to make a new test appointment.
If you drive it and get stopped, you will also be invalidating your insurance ! Sorry

Thats my take on the rules also..

What does it need doing..?

The list of 'free retest 'items could deem it useable to some degree.

Steering and brakes are obvious nonstarters

From the GOV.UK website....

Failing the MOT
If your vehicle fails the MOT:

you’ll get a ‘refusal of an MOT test certificate’ from the test centre
it will be recorded in the MOT database
You can appeal the result if you think it’s wrong.

Driving a vehicle that’s failed
You can take your vehicle away if your MOT certificate is still valid.

If your MOT has run out you can take your vehicle to:

have the failed defects fixed
a pre-arranged MOT test appointment
In both cases, your vehicle still needs to meet the minimum standards of roadworthiness at all times or you can be fined.

You can be fined up to £2,500, be banned from driving and get 3 penalty points for driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition.

I think it depends on what it has failed on...
Something like headlight's alignment or emissions would still be ok to drive
However things likw rust on belt mounting points wouldn't be as it's not in a safe condition

The "old" test certificate is valid until it expires so you would not be driving without a valid MOT. The car will not "ping" an ANPR camera and a police check will show as having a valid MOT However the vehicle must still meet minimum standards so if stopped you could get a ticket for a failed light, bald tyre etc. Conversely the car could pass an MOT but you could be stopped on the way home for an unroadworthy vehicle and the fresh MOT is no defence.
You need to make a judgement based on what the failure was.

Roert G8RPI.

Before the MOT went computerised, there were two failure sheets available, a blue one I think, and a red one.
A blue sheet would allow the vehicle to be used on the old certificate until expiry, but a red one was designated a dangerous failure, and the vehicle should not be driven at all. Presumably there is a failure status to replace the 'red' category, so if you've not been informed of one of those, what g8rpi says is absolutely correct.

I've not had a failure since the new system (that's tempting fate now, mine due next month) so no idea what a 'red' might look like.

Cheers for all the replies. It's an interesting one as the garage read out the rules and between us we couldn't figure it out!

you have an MOT until the expiry of the present pass certificate.
However as always you are held to have a 'safe' vehicle regardless on MOT.
More so if something happened and the fail proved you were aware of the vehicles unsafe condition.
so you need to weigh up the fail items with regards to being road worthy & legal